The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, has urged the governors of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Abia states to close ranks, connect the three states and create an ‘Economic Triangle’ within their states.
Mr China said it was necessary to intentionally accelerate the emergence of the economic triangle in the states.
China, the Managing Director of the Housing and Construction Mayor Limited, who spoke at the conclusion of his business trip in Akwa-Ibom, said the envisaged economic corridor would compete favourably with the Lagos economic hub or even better.
He said, “Talking about the ‘Economic Triangle’, the only place that can wrest economic power from Lagos is Akwa Ibom, Abia, and Rivers states axis or corridor. This corridor contains more than Lagos has if they can be interconnected with smooth roads, ports, and if their blue potentials are unlocked. They will not only wrest power from Lagos but will also be more lucrative.”
The investor, who is behind the emerging Alesa Highlands Green Smart City in Eleme near Port Harcourt, said the new ‘Economic Triangle’ has a bigger potential due to massive land assets with the corridor, plus blue economy and the existing hydrocarbon industry.
Explaining, the Mayor of Housing said Aba (Abia State) provides the biggest fabrication capacity in West Africa to supply goods to the Gulf of Guinea; Port Harcourt provides access to the Gulf of Guinea for off-taking Aba products, and Uyo provides deep sea port at Ibaka and international airport facilities as well as forest reserves for massive agro-economy.
He said with river ports in Rivers State and deep seaport in Akwa Ibom, and international airports in Rivers and Akwa Ibom, Aba can focus on adequate power supply and fabrication boom to supply a new booming market around the economic triangle.
By doing this, he said, jobs would spill out in huge quantities, and more manufacturers would be drawn from all over Africa to boost the fast-coming African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). He said Nigeria would thus have two major trade nodes in West Africa: Lagos and the PH/UYO/Aba triangle.
He said goods going to or coming from Chad, Niger, and the rest of Central Africa can head to the Lagos ports or to the Ibaka/PH ports zone in the new economic triangle.
He said that with power supply made stable, good roads, excellent security system, and ease of doing business enthroned in the zone, the south-south and south east would become the biggest economic nerve in the near future.
The Mayor of Housing called on the governors of the three states to be intentional about the new corridor, put away political differences (if any), and create this corridor by agreeing on projects each state would execute within a short period of time so the states would be linked by good roads, communication, security, trade laws, concessions to investors, etc.
He remarked that northerners were already heading to the Onne Port in Rivers State to export goods, saying creating a commission to oversee the development of the ‘Economic Triangle’ would fast-track its emergence.
He observed that people of the three states were peaceful and are usually preoccupied by zeal for economic prosperity, saying that if they are linked to such huge opportunities staring at them in the emerging economic triangle, they would totally shun violence and focus on prosperity.
Mr China insisted that the emerging economic triangle would form a big node not only into the Gulf of Guinea economic zone but into Africa because AfCFTA is about production, certification, market availability, and easy transport nodes by sea and air. He said the new economic triangle boasts of all the factors.
On how to achieve this, Mr China gave advice: “They can only realise this by working together, through collaboration. One state cannot do it but a triad of the three will create it through seamless interconnection, ports, industrial park, etc. People will be the richest, and internally generated revenue (IGR) will be the biggest in the country.”
